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Headlines > Hijab: It is no longer possible for Bashar to remain in power in light of the new equation.

Hijab: It is no longer possible for Bashar to remain in power in light of the new equation.

Date Posted: 15 April 2017

Dr. Riyad Hijab, the General Coordinator of the Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC) declared that it is no longer possible for Bashar Al-Assad to remain in power, stressing the responsibility of both Iran and Russia for the suffering of the Syrian people and the tragedies it has suffered in the last six years.

During his participation in the Eleventh Al-Jazeera Forum held on Saturday in the Qatari capital of Doha, Dr. Hijab stated that "it became clear to the allies of the regime, before his opponents, that it is no longer possible for Bashar Al-Assad to remain in power in light of the new equation, which is becoming apparent after the new US administration."

Dr. Hijab pointed out that what is happening in Syria has become bigger than the country itself, adding that "the blatant Russian-Iranian interference turned Syria to a battlefield in which the threads of conflict intersect and interlock on its axes, so that the crisis has become a source of urgent global concern because it exceeded the limits of reasonable international competition.

Dr. Hijab also criticized the slackening international attitudes in the past years towards the use of toxic gases and chemical weapons by the regime, the barbaric escalation by the Iranians and their sectarian militias against civilians, and the use of cluster bombs, phosphorus and other internationally prohibited weapons.

The former Syrian prime minister during his speech at the forum, which was held under the title "State crisis and the future of the regional system in the Middle East," continued to say that: "The Syrians, whose movement was peaceful and their demands purely national, found their country plunged into an external conflict as a result of the systematic behavior of the regime in destroying the state's civil institutions and eliminating the people's demands by inciting and bringing in the global terrorist movements and the Persian expansion project."

Dr. Hijab considered that the biggest challenge facing the revolutionary and opposition forces in this difficult period lies in isolating the external influences from the internal scene," calling on brotherly and friendly countries to provide assistance "so that we can lie the foundations of peaceful transition," stressing that "Untying the Syrian knot must begin with confronting the Iranian expansion project the region, and addressing the aggressive behavior of Tehran and its efforts to fuel sectarian and social tensions. "

He added that "the second axis of the equation is to counter Moscow's attempts to form a security and military alliance with the axis extending from Tehran to Beirut through Baghdad and Damascus, through establishing a series of air and naval bases and promoting lethal Russian weapons through using them against civilians in Syria."

On the political process, the General Coordinator of the Higher Negotiation Committee pointed out that "our battle does not benefit from half solutions, and can't warrant appeasing the opponent or trying to reach half solutions with it," stressing that "the availability of a firm international will to push the political transition process forward" will lead to a political solution in Syria.